


Elements

by Ginger_Pop, jlcamp09



Series: Elements [1]
Category: Dragonball Z
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe, Elemental Magic, F/M, Magic, Multi, Romance, Science Fiction & Fantasy, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-25
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2018-03-09 00:34:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3229547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ginger_Pop/pseuds/Ginger_Pop, https://archiveofourown.org/users/jlcamp09/pseuds/jlcamp09
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taking a page from Bulma's book, Chichi decides to take in a foreign exchange student, thinking the experience would be educational for her sons. What neither she nor anyone else realized is the way these new students would impact everyone around them. Strange, unexplainable events begin to take place as a chain reaction changes everyone's lives forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Some of you may recognize this story from another fanfiction site. This is the final version of that series, reworked and edited. The old versions of most of these stories may still be found there, but please know that a lot has changed. (I'd like to think that the writing has improved since then, but I'll let you be the judge of that!) Plus, I have my writing partner working with me on these stories now. 
> 
> This series is AU, so we've changed around a fair amount of details. Things like there being a bigger gap in age between Gohan and Goten (which will play a bigger part in the stories later on.) Or Trunks returning from the future and deciding to live in the current timeline. There are lots of other details that vary from the canon as well, but those will show up later. 
> 
> I promise to update at least once a week. Sometimes I may update more than that, but never less than that. These first few stories will be updated more slowly because we're still in the process of rewriting them. When we get to later stories, where jlcamp and I have worked together on them, they'll go up quicker because they just need a bit of editing and polishing. 
> 
> Anyway, enough rambling. Enjoy! Please let us know what you think as you read. We love hearing from our readers.

It is said that in a single day and night of misfortune, the island of Atlantis disappeared into the depths of the sea.

What most people do not know, is why.

Atlantis was a powerful empire that had conquered much of Europe and Africa. After enjoying a nine-thousand-year rule over much of the known world, the people of Atlantis made a grave mistake. Following the orders given to them by their most powerful goddess Apollymi, they attempted to invade Athens, Greece.

The world was in chaos. Apollymi's love of war and bloodshed had spread too far. Fearful for the people of her city, Athena, patron goddess of Athens, appealed to the Fates to protect the world. Apollymi was throwing everything out of balance. The entire world would be destroyed if she was not stopped.

The Fates imprisoned Apollymi and left her with only a single scrying mirror to allow her to see the outside world of humans and the other gods. A special seal was used to seal her prison, one that was imbued with five elemental powers. Earth. Air. Fire. Water. Light. The seal was then hidden away and, as an extra precaution to prevent anyone from ever releasing Apollymi from her prison, the gods bestowed the five powers to random humans throughout the world. The only way for someone to open the prison would be to find the seal and gather all five humans together to activate it. A feat the Fates believed to be nearly impossible because no one, not the gods or the humans themselves, knew who carried the latent elemental powers.

As a last measure to ensure that Apollymi's imprisonment was eternal, and as punishment for attempting to conquer Greece, the Greek gods sank the island of Atlantis to the bottom of the sea, destroying the city and most of its people. With no one left to worship her, there was no hope for Apollymi to escape. And so peace and balance returned to the world.

But the gods underestimated the powers of the Atlantean people. While a great number of their people had perished in the sea, a handful, numbering in the low thousands, escaped with their lives. Using their magick, which is nothing like what the people of the world today consider to be magic, the Atlanteans scattered across all continents and went into hiding.

And there they waited. For some sign, some whisper of their goddess who had instructed them to go to that fateful battle. Word began to spread of her imprisonment. Her worshipers vowed to release her, no matter the cost or the time it took to do so. So the search began for the seal to unlock the prison cell.

Centuries passed. The world moved on, the new religion replacing the old, new technologies replacing old techniques, the people growing more and more distant from nature and the earth. The Atlanteans fell into despair. For the lives of the people of Atlantis are much longer than those of regular humans. It saddened them to see their world changing, forgetting the Old Ways. Forgetting the Gods. Forgetting them. But as the humans stopped using the natural magick of the world, the power of the Atlanteans grew. They learned to use their magick in new ways, to fashion it into weapons, to protect themselves with it, to accomplish their goals.

New races came to the earth and for a time, the Atlanteans hoped that a change for the better was coming. It began with the arrival of the first Namekian, who eventually purged the evil within his heart, splitting himself into two and creating the first set of dragonballs the earth had ever known. But powerful as the eternal dragon was, even he could not free the goddess Apollymi from her prison.

It was by pure chance that the young Atlantean witch Klissa found the seal of Apollymi. An ambitious and adventurous spirit, she had gone exploring in the Japanese mountains when she stumbled upon it. Instantly recognizing it for what it was, she brought it back to the village where she and some of her fellow Atlanteans were hiding. She was immediately made Queen and became a High Priestess of Apollymi. Along with a small council of trusted Atlanteans, it was decided that it was time for their people to reunite and join efforts to find the humans who possessed the elemental powers. The time to free Apollymi had come.

Most came freely of their own will to the newly constructed castle, excited and anxious to bring the world back to the Old Ways, to restore the world to the way it was before. Any who opposed this change, who disagreed with the practices of the Old Ways or who rejected Apollymi would be forever removed from the earth. Magick would rule again and the Atlanteans would finally have control over all the nations.

But finding the humans proved to be harder than originally anticipated.

It was rare for a human with one of the powers to realize that they had it. And even when they did, they couldn't explain the powers, much less know how to use them. And once that power was made known, the Atlanteans jumped at the chance to abduct them, to bring them back to the castle where the seal was kept. But one human alone was not enough. No matter what they tried, the seal could not be activated without all five humans gathered together at once. Some began to question Klissa's rule. If she had been clever enough to find the seal, why was she unable to find the humans?

Despite their best efforts to keep the humans alive as they found them, the lives of the humans were just too weak. They could not stand the test of time and live for centuries as the Atlanteans did. And when they would die, the elemental power would vanish and latch on to the very next human to be born into the world. Reuniting all five humans began to seem hopeless.

Another new race was introduced to the world. The race of Saiyans. A powerful warrior race with a bloodlust not unlike that of Apollymi herself, the Atlanteans watched them carefully, thinking that perhaps uniting with the Saiyans would accomplish their goals of returning the people to the Old Ways. It started with the infant Kakarot, a vicious and uncontrollable little boy, until he suffered an unfortunate accident and hit his head, forever changing his violent disposition to one of kindness and compassion. He was nothing like the Saiyan he had been before. 

The arrival of the Saiyan Prince Vegeta and his personal bodyguard Nappa had looked promising, but over the years the Prince had settled for a life among the humans, protecting the earth and its people, seemingly losing his thirst for battle and bloodshed.

But the Atlanteans were not the only ones keeping a close eye on the new arrivals to the earth. The Fates were watching, too. It was only after the defeat of the evil android Cell that the Fates determined that the time had come. A time for the war against the Atlanteans, to put an end to their attempts to release Apollymi and her evil upon the world. It was time for the humans who possessed the powers to become aware of the gifts that had been passed down to them through the centuries.

But simply being made aware of their powers would not do. The humans would have to learn to control their powers, to hone them and use them the same way the Atlanteans did. For only then could their enemies be defeated. The humans needed mentors, teachers, who were skilled in the use of energy and were accomplished warriors in battle. The Saiyans and their companions were the perfect match. The only thing left was to bring them all together, and let the events unfold.

And that is where our story begins… 


	2. Chapter 1

Gramma’s chocolate cake could fix anything. 

Usually. 

Jennifer sighed as she poked at the confection with a fork for a moment before she reached over to fiddle with a crystal that had been next to her glass of milk. She had a terrible, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and while she usually felt this way when summer was about to end, this was different. Home was never a good thing, but she had never felt the ‘need’ to stay away. 

She wondered if it meant her father was drunk again. 

The fork was traded for the crystal and she let it slip through her fingers as she tried to imagine the little gem soaking up that feeling from her. “Work faster,” she muttered before giving her head a shake, sending her long, brown hair flipping over her shoulder. 

“Do rocks work better if you talk to them?” Sabriena asked as she sauntered into the kitchen, snickering a little at the look on Jenny’s face. Her baggy pajama pants barely hung onto her hips as she banged around the kitchen. She had to prop her knee up on the counter and hoist herself up to reach a plate from the upper cabinets, she was so short. “There!” she said proudly and cut herself a large slice of the cake, then sat down at the table. “What’s got your panties in a twist?” she asked as she popped a bite of cake in her mouth and gave an appreciative groan. She slicked her long blonde hair out of her face and fixed Jenny with a stare. “Eat your cake or I’m gonna steal yours too.”

The threat made Jenny glance down at her cake again, pressing her lips thin for a moment before she picked up her fork and poked at the piece. “Summer is ending faster than I’d like. As always, but...” She paused to eat a bite and she closed her eyes at the chocolate bliss. “I don’t want to go back home. Bad feeling,” she said, looking over to her friend.

Sabriena smacked her lips as she considered her fork for a moment, licking the chocolate from the tines. “Yeah, I don’t think you’re the only one not looking forward to going back. Pretty sure Lindsey’s planning on hiding in the basement until next summer.” She finished off the last of her cake and pushed the plate away as she leaned back in her chair and stretched. “I mean, I guess you all could stay here with Gramma. I bet she’d let you if you asked. But not me. It’s too quiet for me to stay here for too long.”

She looked around at the kitchen with its high arched ceiling, the dark hardwood floor, the antique white cabinets. How many summers had they spent here, helping Gramma during the busiest time of the year, learning her craft? Well, practically every summer as far back as she could remember. There was something comforting about being in Gramma Arthusia’s house. It smelled of lavender and fresh baked bread, incense and smoky cloves. The air carried a feeling of safety, of ancient magick that seemed to wrap around every single person who stepped through the front door, almost tangible and tingling on your skin. It was as if the house itself were alive with a magick all its own.

None of them ever really wanted to go back home at the start of fall, but this time Jenny sounded serious. “We can’t just stay here making potions and playing with tarot cards for the rest of our lives,” Sabriena said.

“We could,” Jennifer said with a slight smile. Her mind called up memories of hot tea and the saturated leaf grounds on the bottom of porcelain cups, reading the signs and symbols left behind. “I know I’ve thought about it. We are good at our craft, too. Or you know, you would be too if you didn’t spend all your time on your phone talking to that boy-toy.” She paused and tipped her head back, a grin tugging her lips. “But who was that hottie you were talking to the other day? You know the one, that guy leaning against the fence?” 

A smug little smirk played across Sabriena’s lips even as she took a sudden interest in the ceiling and bit at her fingernail. “Which one? You need to be more specific,” she said, a slight giggle in her voice. In all honesty, she couldn’t remember any of their names. She had a boyfriend back home, so none of the flirting was serious, but what was wrong with having a little fun? It was better than weeding the garden in the hot summer sun, or pouring over the symbolism of rune stones.  

“Oh Jenny, we all know Sabriena has her own magick,” Gramma said as she came into the kitchen, a basket of fresh cut lavender hooked over her arm. Her silvery grey eyes fixed Sabriena with a piercing stare. “And we all know what it is.” The corner of her mouth quirked in amusement as Sabriena gave another giggle and didn’t deny it. 

A laugh was pulled from Jenny’s lips before she could stop it and she held up her hands, the crystal still firmly in one palm was she waved her hand at Sabriena. “Wait, wait, I can see it now. More than one man will have your heart before you finally settle down.” Jennifer only laughed harder at the look Sabriena gave her and she busied herself with finishing off her own piece of cake, finally.

A shriek of laughter escaped Sabriena before she sobered herself. “As if I’d ever settle down.”

Gramma laughed at that and shook her head as she set the basket on the counter. “At least one of you girls gets it,” she chuckled as she went to the bottom of the stairs. “Lindsey!” she shouted up the steps. “Get down here!” She huffed as she set aside her oversized sunhat and returned to the counter and began bundling the lavender together for drying. “I don’t care how late she was up arguing with that boy. There’s work to be done around here.” 

It was a few minutes later before they heard her tromping slowly down the stairs. The redhead stumbled into the kitchen, bleary-eyed and yawning. Her hair was a frizzy mess of coppery curls that hung to her waist because she hadn’t bothered to brush it, and there were dark circles under her eyes though the rest of her freckle-splashed face was rather pale. “I’m up, I’m up,” she muttered, reaching into the refrigerator for a soda to wake herself up. She shrank back at the disapproving look Gramma gave her. “Oh yeah, they eat chocolate cake for breakfast and you say nothing, but I have a soda and you look at me like I’m kicking a damn puppy.”

She needed the caffeine that morning. She’d broken up with Xander in the spring, before she and her friends even came to spend the summer here on the coast of Maine with her grandmother. But somehow, she just couldn’t stop talking to him. Maybe part of her had hoped that they would get back together after a little time apart. But last night, she’d been awake and bored and reading that damn romance novel, and something in her heart made her think that talking to him would be a good idea. She hadn’t been prepared for the female voice that had answered his phone.

A little sniffle escaped her, her nose still stuffy from last night, and she popped the top on her soda to take a long swig. “It’s not like I reached for the pitcher of margaritas,” she said and took another swallow. “Although I’m seriously considering it at this point.”

Gramma pressed her lips to a thin line, but a soft laugh escaped her and she shook her head. “Some days I don’t know what to do with you girls,” she said as she set aside one bundle of the lavender and started bundling a second one. 

A slight frown crossed her lips as her granddaughter flopped into a chair at the table. She could feel the emotions from all three of them; neither Jenny nor Lindsey wanted to return to their home in the midwest. There was a heaviness in her heart that was not her own, and she knew it came from both of them. There was a fear and a sense of embarrassment that she could feel from Jenny and it made her blood boil. Jenny deserved so much better than that nightmare she lived with at home. And Lindsey, there was such a loneliness in her heart that it broke Gramma’s own.  

She would have happily kept all three of them there with her, but she knew that wasn’t what was best for them. In fact, she’d thought about it quite a lot that summer. She didn’t much like the idea of any of them going back either, even if Sabriena would’ve happily gone. And that concerned her just as much as, if not more so, than the other two. No, they needed to go somewhere else, somewhere away from what they knew. Find new paths for themselves.

“Have any of you applied for college yet?” she asked casually, keeping her eyes on the herbs as she worked.

Jennifer shared a look with the other two before she looked over to Gramma. “Not yet. Procrastination at it’s finest.” She sighed as she stood up, pushing in her chair before she went to stand next to the old woman and began hanging up the completed bundles in the window so they could dry in the air and sun. “I’m not sure what I want to take, but I know I want something more than the hometown schooling. I need to travel more.” She wasn’t certain how to say it any more clearer than that.

“It’s not like the university is any better,” Sabriena muttered as she stretched again, then hauled herself out of the chair with a groan to help herself to a soda of her own. “Gramma, can you save me some of that lavender? I wanna use some to make some lemonade this afternoon.” She leaned back against the counter and watched the two of them work as she sipped at her soda. “Well what other options are there?”

Gramma scoffed at that and turned to face her girls, pushing her waist-long black hair over her shoulder. “What other options are there?” she asked incredulously. “There are colleges all over the world! You girls could go anywhere and do anything you want! Do anyone you want,” she added, her lips quirking with amusement again as Sabriena’s face lit up like Christmas had come early, Jenny snickered, and Lindsey gave a groan and let her forehead drop to the table. “I’m just saying, you have options,” Gramma continued with an innocent shrug of her shoulders. 

“Tour de Sluts,” Sabriena snickered.

“You’re horrible,” Lindsey said, but couldn’t keep the giggle out of her own voice either. “We’d get deported if we tried to go anywhere with her.” A sigh escaped her as she leaned her cheek against the heel of her hand. “I dunno. Where would we even go?”

“Anywhere,” Gramma answered. “What do you all have holding you down? Trouble, you know your father would let you go anywhere you like,” she said, gesturing at Sabriena as she turned back to the counter and set aside a bunch of the lavender for her. “Lindsey, I’m as much of a guardian as you have, not that you need it. And Jenny…” She paused and a sympathetic sigh escaped her. “Well, honey, you’re old enough now that you don’t need permission from anyone to do what you like.”

She nodded at that. “But you are the only one I’d even seek approval from anyway if we were actually doing this.” Jennifer blinked at the look she got and she turned to Sabriena and Lindsey, “Are we? Can we really just stop and go like that?”

Lindsey turned in her chair, blinking at her friends. “I mean… I guess? Honestly, I don’t care if I go back anytime soon. Stupid, selfish…” she grumbled a string of complaints about Xander under her breath before she stopped herself and looked at them again. “But where do you all want to go? I’m game for wherever, I guess. I’ve always wanted to go to Italy.”

“Well, wherever you go, you need to decide quick. I imagine it’s quite the process to get signed up for an exchange program. That would be better than staying in dorms,” Gramma said. 

Sabriena squinted across the kitchen to the big map that hung on the wall, covering an old bulletin board. It was riddled with tiny holes from push-pins, the edges of it holding notes and recipes in various faded shades of colored paper. “Gimme that,” she said and reached over to snag the kitchen knife from Jenny. Holding her tongue between her teeth, she squinted at the map, then zinged the knife across the kitchen. She stood up straighter with a look of pride when the knife embedded its blade into the map. “There! That’s where we’ll go!”

“Or we could just go work for the carnival. You can run the knife-throwing game,” Lindsey said, staring wide-eyed at her friend. A sigh escaped her as she got up and went to the wall, wrenching the knife out of the board. She rolled her eyes as a resounding SMACK echoed through the kitchen behind her and Sabriena let out a yelp. She tipped her head slightly to the side, wrinkling her nose. “Well, I guess we’re going to Japan.”

Jennifer just shook her head at Sabriena, who was recovering from Gramma’s punishment. “This is why we can’t have nice things.”


	3. Chapter 2

Chichi huffed in irritation and crossed her arms over her chest. “I knew we should have left the house sooner,” she said, shooting her husband a look out of the corner of her eye. Traffic was horrible, crawling at a snail’s pace as they tried to make their way to the airport. “We were supposed to be there ten minutes ago. And we’re nowhere near the airport!” She sighed again, her arms crossing even more tightly, if that were possible. “Bulma is going to have a fit.”

“You know, Chichi, if you would just let me use my instant transmission,” Goku started, glancing over to her as he kept his attention on the traffic in front of him, “we could be out of this traffic and parked at the airport in seconds. It’s not going to scare anyone.” He tried his argument again. He had been planning on using his technique, hence why they were now running behind when Chichi demanded that they pick up their exchange student ‘properly’. 

“You can’t just go around popping up out of thin air. You’re going to cause a scene one of these days,” she answered. Really, it was bad enough that he did it at home, scaring the living daylights out of her. She flipped down the sun visor and checked her makeup and hair in the little mirror. “We want to make a good impression on our student,” she reminded him. “We only get one chance to make a first impression. I don’t want to start off by scaring him half to death by appearing out of nowhere.” She sighed heavily through her nose as she sat back again and stared at the traffic ahead. “Really, Goku, how would we explain that?”

He blinked at her widely, not quite understanding what she meant. “Well, I just figured we would come out and say it, right? I mean, the guy is going to wonder about our powers anyway,” Goku signaled to move over and waved at the person who let him through. “Also, if you are worried about first impressions, shouldn’t Gohan have come with us?”

“Gohan is making a good first impression,” Chichi insisted. “He’s setting a good example by staying at home and studying. Let’s just hope whoever they assigned to stay with us has the same work ethic as Gohan does. This is supposed to be an educational experience for both of them.” She turned in her seat and fixed him with a stare. “Can’t you just rein in your powers for a while? Can’t we at least pretend to be a normal family, just this once?” she practically begged.

“Of course we can, Chichi, but what kind of example are we setting if we lie the whole time?”

Chichi sighed through her nose as they finally pulled into the airport parking lot. “Well, I suppose you have a point there,” she admitted as she got out of the car and straightened her dress. She hurried around the side of the car to look him over, smoothing a wrinkle out of the nice dress shirt she’d talked him into wearing. “If we can’t keep it a secret the whole time, can we at least just ease him into it? I just don’t want to terrify the poor thing right from the start.”

Goku was content to stand there for a moment, letting his wife fuss over him while he looked her over. She wore her hair pulled back in that tight bun, always, a few flyaway strands still managing to frame her high cheekbones. He reached out and gently caught her hand. “I promise I will do my best. I know how important this is for you, for Gohan.” 

Chichi gave an approving nod, then took Goku’s elbow and walked into the airport. She was terribly embarrassed to be running so late, but she hoped that their exchange student would understand. She’d put a lot of time into planning this, applying to host a foreign student in the hopes that it would have a positive impact on Gohan’s college career. 

She paused once they were inside, scanning for any sign of the two students they were supposed to pick up. Since Goten had spent the weekend playing with little Trunks at Capsule Corp, Chichi had agreed to pick up the student that Bulma had decided to host this year too. Concern crossed her face when no one immediately caught her attention. “Do you see them?” she asked, looking around again. “I hope nothing went wrong.”

Goku blinked and looked around, no one familiar standing out to him. “No. Who are we looking for?”

Chichi fished in her purse and pulled out some paperwork. “It says his name is Lindsey,” she read aloud, wrinkling her nose again. Though she knew the name could be used for a boy, she thought it sounded rather girly. But who knew with a foreigner? “And Bulma said her student would be with ours. I don’t think she told me a name.”

Sabriena’s head snapped up and she jabbed her elbow into Lindsey’s ribs. “I think that’s them,” she said, nodding at the couple who seemed to be looking a bit lost. “I just heard them say your name. Please, dear gods, let it be them. I’m sick of waiting around here.” She got to her feet, adjusting her short skirt, and whistled loudly, waving when Goku looked her way. “Did you say you’re looking for Lindsey? She’s right here!” she called, pointing at her friend. “We’re ready to go!”

Chichi felt her stomach drop when she saw the young blonde waving enthusiastically at them. “Oh, this can’t be right,” she muttered under her breath. She moved almost mechanically next to her husband as they approached the three young women sitting there. It was now painfully obvious that these girls were waiting for someone, and they did look American. Her mouth felt dry and her throat tight as she tried to speak. This was not what she’d planned on at all. “I think you girls are mistaken,” she said, looking at the paper again. “We were expecting a young man from America named Lindsey.”

A loud snort escaped Sabriena as Lindsey gave a laugh. “Well, that’s my name, but I’m pretty sure I’m not a man,” she said, giggling. She reached for the paper Chichi held and looked it over. “Yeah, someone made a mistake,” she said, showing the paper to Jenny. “All the information is right except for my gender.” She jerked her head at Jenny as she handed the paper back. “She’s supposed to stay with the Briefs and they told me I’m supposed to stay with the Son family. They never officially said where Sabriena was supposed to say, but they said they’d have it figured out by the time we landed and you all would know what to do.”

“I still say that clerk was high. He had no idea what the hell he was doing,” Sabriena muttered under her breath before she looked expectantly at Goku and Chichi. “Soooo… can we go?”

“Well, I’m Son Goku and this is my wife, Chichi. We’re dropping off Bulma’s student on the way back to our house.” He frowned and looked at the extra person they hadn’t expected. “I suppose you’ll be staying with us or maybe Bulma signed up for one more and she forgot to tell us?” he asked before moving to take some of the bigger pieces of luggage sitting on the ground. There was a small vein in Chichi’s forehead that twitched when she got irritated and he could tell she was doing her best to keep from getting upset. 

In truth, Chichi wasn’t entirely sure who to be mad at. This definitely wasn’t what she had in mind when she decided to host an exchange student. She’d pictured someone more professional looking than the young women before her. And she certainly hadn’t expected them to be female. A harsh sigh escaped her nose. “Bulma can sort this out,” she said determinedly and followed Goku out to their car. Surely Bulma would have the answer for this, she’d be able to make it right.

“Ever feel unwelcome?” Lindsey muttered under her breath to Jenny. She wasn’t entirely sure what to think of the angry and disappointed look on Chichi’s face. She dropped her voice to a whisper, “I’m just gonna hide in your suitcase for the year instead.”

* * *

Even in the fading daylight, Capsule Corp was still one of the more prominent buildings to stand out. The Corporation itself was huge, she had read about it as much as she could, but the family who ran the actual business stayed in the grand domed part of the complex. A jolt of nervousness hit Jennifer as their ride pulled to a stop in front of it. “Oh wow. If they hadn’t already assigned us, I would be thinking this place is waaaaay above my pay grade.” 

“It is,” Sabriena said, then playfully wrinkled her nose at the look Jenny shot her. “I’ll stay here, though! This looks like it’s right up my alley.” She grinned happily as she got out of the car, her fancy high-heels clicking on the pavement as she trotted up to the front door. She hoped she got to stay here anyway. There was an uncomfortable tension in the car on the drive over, and she really didn’t fancy spending a year in Chichi’s company. 

“Yeah, that’s okay, we’ll get your luggage for you,” Lindsey called after her as she grabbed one of Sabriena’s many suitcases from the trunk of the car. She gave Goku an apologetic look as he grabbed the rest of them. “I’d like to say she’s just excited, but she’s always like this.”

Goku found himself chuckling as he easily picked up the large amount of luggage. “That’s okay. It looks like she can give Bulma a run for her money during a sale at the clothing store.” He leaned over, like he was going to share a big secret with her, “Personally, I think Vegeta’s been teaching her a few techniques to help her get through the crowds, but he denies it everytime I ask.”

“Oh! They’re here!” Catie called out when she heard the commotion out in the driveway. She disentangled herself from Trunks on the couch as she called out to Bulma and hurried over to the door. “Hi! Come in!” she greeted brightly, stepping aside to let them all into the house. 

“Bulma!” Chichi said, her eyes wide, “We need to talk. There’s been some sort of mix up.” She waved the paperwork at her friend, barely paying attention as Goku brought in the luggage. “I don’t know what happened, but this is all wrong!”

Bulma leaned away from the flailing papers that were suddenly thrust under her nose as she walked in. “Good to see you too, Chichi. We were beginning to wonder if Goku had gotten lost. Why didn’t you just use that nifty little trick of his?” she asked, finally accepting the papers and opening them. “What do you mean it’s all wrong?” 

Chichi leaned in closely over Bulma’s shoulder and pointed at the paperwork. “They sent us a girl! I can’t have a girl staying in my home! This is supposed to be educational. Gohan can’t be distracted from his studies right now,” she insisted. “And they sent three instead of two! Something got completely mixed up here. And I want it straightened out!”

Catie rolled her big eyes at Chichi and turned to their house guests. “Come sit down,” she offered, shoving at Trunks to scoot over on the couch. “Let them figure out whatever got screwed up,” she said with a dismissive wave at Bulma and Chichi. “So which one of you is Jennifer?”

Jenny turned her attention from Chichi to the two people on the couch. “Yo! That’d be me.” She studied them for a moment, quickly deciding that the lavender-haired man must be Bulma’s son. “Here for the year.” She could hardly believe it even as she said it. They were in Japan and this was the home she would be staying with. It was a bit daunting and she wondered if she’d get lost in the big house. 

“Don’t worry,” Goku said as he brought in the last bit of luggage from the car, catching the wide-eyed look on Jennifer’s face, “Bulma sends out search parties once a week for anyone they haven’t found.” He grinned before looking over for his wife, pouting as he saw she was still talking with Bulma about something. “Hey Catie, is Vegeta around? Maybe I can squeeze in a quick spar while they figure out what went wrong.”

“As if I’d waste my time,” came Vegeta’s voice from the doorway where he stood, a towel over his shoulder and a bottle of water in his hand. He gave Goku a scathing look. “I know what you’re up to, Kakarot. And it’s not going to work. The tournament is coming up and you’re trying to find a strategy to beat me. Well you’re going to have to be a little more clever than that.”

Goku stuck his lip out in a pout, lifting his chin defiantly at the other Saiyan. “Am not!” His voice dropped to a whisper as he sidled up to the other man and leaned over, holding up his hand to block the sound, “She had me driving again today! I hate sitting in that car, I’m too restless for it.”

Vegeta chuckled as he tipped the water bottle to his lips. “You’ll get no sympathy from me,” he said. Why the idea of Goku trapped in a car amused him so much, he wasn’t sure. Out of the corner of his eye, he surveyed the guests in his living room. Catie was talking with two young women he didn’t recognize, and a third, the blonde, was not-so-discreetly sliding around the back of the couch to sit herself a little too close to Trunks. “The hell have you brought into my house now?”

“Meanie,” Goku hissed before he looked over to where Vegeta’s gaze was drawn, “Oh! I brought you the exchange students. I thought you knew since the last one ended so well for you.” He smiled and glanced back over at Catie. “Though, I think Chichi thought we were getting a boy.” He scratched at his head. “I didn’t think it was this big of an issue though.”

A soft snort escaped Vegeta. “Been two years now and I can’t get rid of it,” he growled, looking at Catie.

“I heard that!” she cried before returning to her conversation with Jenny and Lindsey.

Vegeta rolled his eyes and looked at Bulma. “What are you doing, woman? Starting a collection?” He narrowed his eyes, looking over the living room again. It was bad enough that Catie had stayed past the year she was supposed to because she and the future version of Trunks had fallen in love since he came to stay permanently in this timeline. But now there were two more? He gave Bulma a deadpan stare. “One is enough. You’re going to turn this place into a damn zoo. They aren’t strays you can just collect like your mother does with all her damn pets.”

Sabriena wasn’t interested in the argument that was slowly building between their hosts. She sat down between the arm of the couch and Trunks, and crossed her legs, her skirt sliding up just a bit higher on her thigh. “Hi! I’m Sabriena,” she said, twirling a piece of her blonde hair around her finger as she gave him a long, sweeping look. By the gods, he was gorgeous. “What’s your name?”

Trunks pulled his attention away from the conversation Catie had been having with two of the three students to find that the third had managed to squeeze herself in next to him. “Uh, hey. Trunks,” he said as he held out his hand for her to take, “I can imagine you guys are worn out from traveling and then to have this mixup? Usually the college is better about this kind of stuff.”   

“It was probably a mix up on our side of the world,” Sabriena said, taking Trunks’ hand to shake, holding it a little too long. “I mean, they put Lindsey down as being a dude, so…” She trailed off and gave a light, flirty laugh and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Really, I don’t mind where I stay so long as there’s a soft bed.” She yawned and stretched, then leaned her elbow on her knee and rested her chin in her hand. “It was a long flight.”

Catie arched an eyebrow as she watched Sabriena flirt with Trunks. Ohhh, she was good. But not that good. “I came here as a foreign exchange student too,” she continued on her conversation with Jenny and Lindsey. “But then I met Trunks and, well, couldn’t leave after that. We’ve been together for almost two years now.”

Jennifer glanced to the side, almost rolling her eyes at the way Sabriena was cozying up already to the first attractive guy they saw. “That’s incredible that you were able to just drop everything and stay over here, must be one hell of a guy,” she said, looking over to Bulma again, “How did his parents take to your liking of their son?” 

“Bulma and I get along great,” Catie said, leaning back into the couch and taking Trunks’ hand possessively in her own. She scooted a little closer to his side, a small but confident smile on her lips. “Vegeta tolerates me,” she added with a laugh. “Which is saying something, because he hates almost everyone. You get used to it. Just stay out of his way and you’ll be fine.” She leaned forward and whispered loudly, “And if he gets growly, just come tell me. I’ll put him in his place.”

“I heard that, Catherine.”

Catie cringed and shrank back into Trunks’ side again, giggling. “That’s gonna be an extra week in the gravity room,” she muttered, semi-regretting her teasing now. 

“Gravity room?” Jennifer questioned, tipping her head. It didn’t sound like a punishment. Sounded like some rich, expensive way to have fun and it sounded like it would be right up Sabriena’s alley. She let her eyes flicker over to the man standing next to Goku while he happily chatted about something or other. The stern look wasn’t quite to angry yet and there was something about the way that he held himself that said ‘danger.’ “Guess it will take some time to get used to all of these new fangled contraptions.”

Catie’s eyebrows raised. “Oh yeah, these darn kids and their technology,” she said, raising her fist and feebly shaking it like an old woman before she burst into giggles. Oh, she liked Jenny already. She leaned in closer to Trunks and whispered loudly, “We’re keeping her.” And when he rolled his eyes, she just grinned bigger. “You guys thirsty? I’ll grab us something to drink,” she offered, clapping a hand to Trunks’ knee and pushing herself up off the couch.

Lindsey leaned back in the armchair, sitting cross-legged, and let her head tip back. “I’m gonna fall asleep right here,” she muttered, only half-listening as Bulma and Chichi continued to argue. Chichi didn’t seem to be happy about any of this, and made it adamantly clear that she could only take one of them into their home. “Oh for fuck’s sake, someone just decide something already,” she whispered so quietly to herself that no one could hear. Though she really was tempted to yell it at them.

“Fine, we’ll take Lindsey, but that’s it,” Chichi conceded. Jenny was assigned to Bulma, so if Chichi had to choose between Sabriena or Lindsey, she’d take Lindsey. Sabriena was petite with an hourglass figure, not a strand of her perfectly straight blonde hair was out of place, and her short dress and high heels just screamed of high maintenance and a need for attention. That was the last thing Chichi needed flitting around her son or her husband. But Lindsey was plainer, with wildly frizzy red hair, wearing a tank top and jeans over a figure that could probably stand to lose twenty pounds or more. Chichi felt fairly secure that neither her son nor her husband would take interest in that.

Bulma huffed out a sigh, leaning back as she thought it over. It had been a fuss with Vegeta when he learned that she had signed up for another exchange student, she hadn’t bothered consulting him on the matter because he would ignore them anyway. Adding another with zero prep was another argument waiting to happen, but luckily for her, the Prince had some grasp of the concept that shouting at each other in front of company was not acceptable. She had come to terms long ago that they both had a talented knack for getting under each other’s skin and that there would be days when acceptable was damned.

She remembered that Goku and Chichi also had Goten to take home with them. They really would have a full house while she had plenty of room to spare. “Okay, fine. It’s fine. Sabriena can stay here.” The way the skin on the back of her neck started prickling, she didn’t even have to look to know that Vegeta was giving her a look of disapproval. 

Catie returned to the living room, carrying a tray of glasses and offered them to their guests first.

“Oh thanks!” Sabriena grinned and grabbed two glasses, handing one to Trunks. So he was spoken for, so what? It wasn’t like she was seriously trying to get into his pants. But he was the best looking guy she’d seen so far in Japan, and she needed the pick me up after a long flight and a long wait in the airport terminal. She sipped from the glass and gave an almost obscene moan. “Mmmm, this is so much better than what they offered on the plane,” she gushed.

Catie pressed her lips to a thin line, drawing a breath through her nose to calm herself. She’d never considered herself a jealous person, but something about Sabriena rubbed her the wrong way. She trusted Trunks, that wasn’t the issue at all. It was simply the fact that Sabriena obviously had no respect for boundaries. 

And when Trunks made a comment about airline food, and Sabriena laughed and placed her hand on his thigh, Catie seriously thought for a moment about taking the tray in her hands and smashing it over Sabriena’s head.

“She is NOT staying here,” she hissed through her teeth at Bulma as she walked through to return the tray to the kitchen. She paused in her steps and leaned into the conversation between Chichi and Bulma. “I will use her pretty little face as a punching bag!”

“We agreed to one,” Vegeta reminded Bulma. “Too many personalities under one roof is going to give you more of a headache than you bargained for.” A smirk touched his lips. “And I can always go off and train for a year.” His tone easily conveyed the threat. He’d done it before, it wouldn’t be much for him to do it again. Of course, he and Bulma hadn’t been mated before. The tiniest part of him doubted if he would make good on that threat, but he pushed it down and didn’t let it show.

Bulma raised an eyebrow at him. “Mmhmm.” She was a bit skeptical at that. “Well, I can’t turn her away with nowhere to go.” She could see why Catie wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of the extra student living with them, as she was practically throwing herself at Trunks. 

Though Chichi was one hundred percent certain she would never allow Sabriena to stay in her own home, she couldn’t just put the poor girl out on the street either. “She has to have somewhere to go,” she said. A frown crossed her face as she tried to think of somewhere they could let her stay. Kame house came to mind first, but even Chichi wasn’t cruel enough to send a young, pretty girl to stay with that old lecher Master Roshi. Yamcha’s apartment was a no-go, for similar reasons. Her face brightened the next second as an idea struck her. “I got it!” she said happily, snapping her fingers. “She can go stay with Piccolo and Dende!”

A snort escaped Vegeta before he could stop himself. “Oh, I can see that going over real well with the Namek.”

“No, think about it,” Chichi insisted. “That place is huge. It’s just Piccolo and Dende and Mr. Popo up there. It’s nice and quiet for her to study. I’m sure they won’t mind a bit!”

Goku brightened up at the mention of the Namekians. “That’s perfect! I can take her over there now.” He scratched at his head, tilting it to the side as he thought. It was a perfect location for any aspiring student, if a bit high off of the ground. “But how is she going to get down from the Lookout. She can’t fly yet, can she? How long did it take for Catie to learn?”

“Oh, Goku, don’t be silly,” Bulma said, thinking over how Piccolo might respond. She was leaning towards throwing them both over the side and saying to hell with it. “I’ll give her an extra car.” She smirked, eyes dancing as she shared a glance with Vegeta. “Piccolo can even teach her how to drive it.” 

“Well, I know it’ll be a long drive to take her there, but really I think this is an excellent idea,” Chichi said, holding her head a little higher. 

“Drive her there?” Catie asked. “Just use the instant-”

“No!” Chichi cut her off. She cleared her throat, calming herself. “We’re trying to present ourselves as normal as possible at first. Being around all of you can… be a bit intimidating. Now,” she said with a polite little smile, “Let me use the restroom and we’ll be off.”

Catie narrowed her eyes as Chichi disappeared into the other room. She fished in her pocket and pulled out two capsules. “Here,” she said as she turned to Goku. “This one is a spare capsule car. I tried it out just earlier today, but red isn’t my color. And this one,” she waved the second at him, “is empty. You can stick all her luggage in it.” A mischievous little grin played across her lips, her eyes dancing. “You take that blonde to the Lookout now with your instant transmission and I’ll talk Vegeta into sparring with you next weekend.”

A smile spread across Goku’s face as he took the capsules from Catie. “I want at least a whole day. We can go out North and level a few mountains,” he insisted and beamed when she nodded at him, “Sounds great!” He looked over to the blonde and walked over to her, “So! Change of plans, I’m going to take you to the Lookout. You can stay with Piccolo and Dende! But we have to go now or Chichi is going to make me drive you there.”

Sabriena looked puzzled, but got to her feet anyway. “Ooookay,” she drawled, watching as he packed her bags into a capsule. “Ooo! Those things are so cool! You can’t hardly find any in America. Our tech isn’t quite caught up with yours.” She looked over at Jenny. “Well, I guess I’ll see you in class next week,” she said, then turned to Lindsey to say goodbye, but scowled when she saw the redhead. “Fucking asleep. Why am I not surprised?” She huffed and turned to Goku. “Okay, so if we’re not driving, we’re walking?” she asked as he handed her the two capsules.

“Nope,” Goku said as he stepped closer to Sabriena, holding out an open hand for her to take, “Something better. Just hold on to me.”   

“Oh good! Cause these heels really aren’t meant for walking too much,” she said, lifting her foot to show off the expensive shoe. She didn’t know what to expect, but she slipped her hand into his, entwining their fingers together, and held on tightly.  

Chichi opened the door from the bathroom and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Goku standing there holding the blonde’s hand in his own, and his other hand with his fingers pressed to his forehead. “Goku, no!” But she hadn’t even gotten the words out and he vanished from the spot.

A very Vegeta-ish smirk crossed Catie’s lips. “Bye, bitch.”


End file.
